In recent times, there have been a lot of new electric vehicles unveiled or released at home and abroad, and there are many highlights. On the one hand, this shows that after several years of hard work, many car companies that have "realized" earlier will usher in a harvest period; on the other hand, thanks to the huge investment of car companies and supply chain manufacturers, electric vehicle technology has been greatly improved in just two or three years, especially those traditional "school bullies" have gradually shown their due strength.
The other day, Audi released another pure electric concept car online "low-key" - Audi A6 Avant e-tron. Although it is a concept car, it is actually very close to the state of the production car at a glance. And compared with the Audi A6 e-tron concept car released at the Shanghai Auto Show last year, the official provided more information this time.
With information about the Audi A6 Avant e-tron concept and some of the previous fragments, I can basically tease out some of the main features of Audi's upcoming new electric car.
Let's start with this A6 Avant e-tron.
From the perspective of the design language of the exterior shape, it is basically the same as the A6 e-tron concept car, with only some small details of the change. With the exception of that rearview mirror, the rest is considered "infinitely close" to the production car. Moreover, it can be seen from the official release information that the configuration of digital matrix LED with picture projection function, three high-resolution LED projectors on each side, and OLED combination tail lights can also be retained.
It can be seen that as long as local regulations allow, these configurations will properly appear on the production version.
Appearance design these parts that are visible to the naked eye, I will not pile up more adjectives, whether it is good or not depends on everyone's own judgment. With the release of the A6 Avant e-tron concept car, I would like to focus on the Audi PPE pure electric platform.
Because Audi and FAW have established a joint venture last year to establish Audi FAW New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd., which will produce pure electric Audi models based on ppE platforms in Changchun, the first pure electric vehicle model based on PPE platforms in the Chinese market will be put into operation at the new plant at the end of 2024.
If you want to talk about the PPE platform, you can't help but talk about the Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche brands under the Volkswagen Group, as well as the current three pure electric platforms of MEB, PPE and J1.
Here is a small story, when the Volkswagen Group just decided to bet heavily on electric vehicles, because on the one hand, it hoped to produce "results" as soon as possible, but had to solve the problem of different brand positioning under the group, so under repeated measurement, it was decided to synchronously develop a pure electric platform for the three different characteristics of general family cars, luxury cars and supercars, led by Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche.
This strategy is successful for now.
So far, the Volkswagen brand's ID series models based on the MEB platform have been "dumplings", and there are ALD.3 and ID.4 and ID.6 that have been domestically produced, and it is estimated that ID.5 and ID.Buzz are not far from domestic production. Porsche has already launched the Taycan based on the J1 platform, and its global sales in 2021 have surpassed its flagship Porsche 911, second only to Macan and Cayenne.
Audi has launched Q4 e-tron and Q5 e-tron based on the MEB platform, as well as audi e-tron GT based on the J1 platform, of which Q4 e-tron has even become the "sales crown" of the electric vehicle market in some European countries, and will also be produced by FAW Audi or will be listed within this year.
However, the fly in the ointment is that models based on Audi's own PPE platform still need to be launched in 2023.
This may disappoint some friends who want to continue to listen to the story, and I don't know the so-called insiders. But on a technical level, I seem to have found some clues.
PPE's full English name is "Premium Platform Electric", which can be seen in a copy of the official audi technical data that seemed to be flowing out last year, due to the special position of the Audi brand in the Volkswagen Group, Audi needs to take into account more market segments than the Volkswagen brand and Porsche.
Therefore, this has caused the Audi brand to need to design and develop models for meb, PPE and J1 at the same time. In other words, the battle line will be stretched longer.
Fortunately, Volkswagen and Porsche are quite powerful, so it greatly reduces the difficulty of Audi developing models based on MEB and J1 platforms, which can be described as saving money, saving time and worry, and can focus more on the PPE platform. Of course, Porsche will also launch an entry-level model on the PPE platform, such as the electric Macan of the future.
It is also because of the "high-end luxury" positioning of this platform, so the PPE platform does not need to take into account too much, just consider the wheelbase of 2890mm ~ 3080mm, B-class to D-class cars and SUVs. If you compare with Audi's current fuel vehicles, it is probably equivalent to the A4, A6, A8 and Q5, Q7 series.
These cars are definitely Audi's "profit cows", and it is not an exaggeration to call them the basis of survival.
Therefore, on the PPE platform, Audi is quite clever to "integrate" the technical advantages of the MEB and J1 platforms and smelt a furnace together. For example, in terms of battery technology, the 800V high-voltage architecture, the highest 270kw supercharge capacity, the maximum support 475kW power output and thermal management system are brought from the J1 platform, and then the battery module and battery pack structure related technologies are also brought from the MEB platform.
In terms of electric drive systems, the PPE platform also takes into account the needs of different classes of models, and has developed motors, reducers (gearboxes) and control modules (ordinary IGBTs and silicon carbide) with different performances, which have greatly improved the performance of motors on the Audi e-tron.
Combined with the current domestic and foreign news, it can be known that Audi's first models based on the PPE platform are really "666", including the A6 e-tron, A6 Avant e-tron and the Q6 e-tron, which is no longer a secret. Combined with the information released by Audi FAW when the new energy vehicle project was launched, the first batch of cars produced in the Changchun plant will most likely be A6 e-tron and Q6 e-tron.
Therefore, some of the main technical parameters of the Audi A6 Avant e-tron concept are very valuable. The A6 Avant e-tron is also equipped with a 100kWh battery pack that can support up to 270kW of charging power; there will be single-motor rear-drive and dual-motor four-wheel drive (e-quattro) versions with a maximum range of more than 700 kilometers, and the four-wheel drive version of the two motors with a total output of up to 350kW and a maximum torque of 800Nm.
This may also mean that if the advantages of the PPE platform are really to be fully reflected, it is imperative for Audi to lay out a supercharging network that supports the 800V architecture in China.
Chassis, the A6 Avant e-tron concept features a five-link structure optimized for electric vehicles at the front, a multi-link bridging at the rear, and an Audi air suspension with adaptive damping control.
If this A6 Avant e-tron can eventually be produced, many "crock pot" fans will laugh out loud in their dreams.
I wish that day had come sooner.
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Technical analysis
by Wei Xiyu
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